Category: Studies & Sector Reports

See which countries are the most generous, as the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) World Giving Index reveals where 146 countries rank for three giving areas: donating money, volunteering and helping a stranger.

Now in its ninth year, the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) World Giving Index looks at charitable behaviour around the world and shares insights into the nature of giving and trends in global generosity.

The CAF World Giving Index 2018 is based on data collected over a five year period (2013-2017). It includes results from 146 countries collected throughout 2017. Each country is ranked for three giving behaviours:

Helping a stranger

Donating money

Volunteering time

What are the key findings from the CAF World Giving Index 2018?

Giving has increased in developed countries; a welcome reversal of the decline we saw last year amongst most of the top- scoring Western countries.

The giving gap between the continents is closing. For example, five years ago there was a 7 percentage point gap between the index scores of the Americas and Africa. Now it stands at just 1 percentage point.

More people around the world reported helping a stranger and volunteering their time in 2017, but the proportion donating money has declined for the second year in a row.

Released by the Australian Charities ad Not-for-profits Commisison (ACNC) just before Christmas, The Australian Charities Report 2014 is the first in-depth look at the financial significance of the sector.

Our country’s charity sector has a combined income of $103 billion, with nearly $7 billion coming from donations and bequests.

Most charities appear to be operating a balanced budget, as during that same period, $95 billion was spent by charities, and the remaining $8 billion ear-marked for future charitable investment.

The Australian Charities Report 2014 was produced in collaboration with the Centre for Social Impact and the Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW Australia.

It is hoped the report will act as a resource to help donors, governments, researchers and the community better understand charities, and their financial status and sustainability.

The Australian charity sector has evolved over the past twenty years, and a report release last month by private wealth management business, JBWere, highlights some of these changes.

The Cause Report, as it is known, is an in-depth report that investigates the role of the sector in Australian society. It compares the our sector here to those in the USA, Canada, UK and a few other countries and provides some predictions for the future. The report also explores the different types of organisations in the sector such as health, environment, education and social services.

Additionally, as indicated in the Executive Summary, The Cause Report covers:

the scale, scope and significance of the charitable and not-for-profit sector;

the long term trends across the sector;

the headwinds in relation to sustainability and volunteerism; and

a breakdown of data at a sector level.

The report identifies the charity sector as “the glue which holds much of Australian society together and allows it to function and prosper” and while it is a lengthy report it is certainly well worth the read.

The Koda Capital Non-Profit Sector Review is a comprehensive document that everyone working in the non profit industry should take the time to read.

Calling for more collaboration between the community and government sectors to get the job done, the document looks into issues such as the industry’s growth and input to Australia’s national GDP, verses the insignificant salary growth of employees within the sector.

There is a strong suggestion that although Australia is already a leader in volunteering, non profits should be looking even more so to take advantage of our highly trained and skilled workforce to build a network of people willing to offer their talents and their time.